Boeing's Conner to SPEEA: 'Nobody wins in a strike'

As the Boeing Co. struggles to get its 787 back on track, the company is appealing to its engineering workers to accept its labor contract and not to go on strike.

"Nobody wins in a strike," Ray Conner, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, wrote Thursday in a message to engineers and technical workers. "It's important that we protect our competitiveness in the long-run, even if that means some short-term pain."

Conner and Boeing are facing down two challenges: a 787 that has been grounded by federal regulators and a potential strike by the very workers the company is relying on to return the Dreamliner to commercial service.

If granted strike authorization, SPEEA negotiators intend to "return to the bargaining table, under the auspices of the federal mediator, to get a better contract," Ray Goforth, SPEEA's executive director, told members in a video message.

SPEEA members have until 5 p.m. on Feb. 19 to return their ballots to the union.

The vote tallying will take place -- barring a major breakthrough -- before Boeing will resolve the battery troubles that grounded its Dreamliner on Jan. 16.

"It was your innovation, talent and skill that brought the 787 Dreamliner to life," he wrote. "Now more than ever, we need to deliver on those promises by coming together as one team."

SPEEA leaders, however, say the company's proposal would divide the union in the long term, not bring members and the company together.

The major point of contention in Boeing's contract offer is a change in retirement plan for SPEEA members hired after Feb. 28. Those workers would be enrolled in a 401(k) plan, not the pension given to existing SPEEA members. With 50 percent of Boeing workers expected to retire within the next decade, union leaders fear a potential rift between members with pension and those without within a couple contract cycles.

In his message, Boeing's Conner dangled another trump card in front of SPEEA members: future development work.

"Getting a better handle on our pension costs now will enable us to do more amazing things in the future like the 777X and the 787-10X," Conner wrote.

Even as Boeing return its 787-8 to commercial service, the company is working on two larger Dreamliners -- the 787-9, set to be delivered next year; and the yet-to-be-launched 787-10X. Additionally, Boeing's popular Everett-built 777 faces competition from Airbus' A350 unless the Chicago-based Boeing strikes back with an updated version, dubbed the 777X.

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